Volume 17: Interventions and Intersections postgraduate conference (2024)
Editorials
Celebrate the richness and depth of postgraduate student research in Western Sydney University's School of Humanities and Communication Arts (SoHCA). The articles in this Volume all began as conference papers in November 2023 at the School's annual postgraduate conference, Interventions and Intersections: Traversing the Unknown.
Postgraduate research
Multiliteracy skills of Australian Higher Degree Research students
Adrijana Tomovic
Higher Degree Research (HDR) candidates at Australian universities are expected to demonstrate a complex set of academic skills to produce a high-quality thesis. They are required to be highly successful in academic communication, both written and oral. However, changes are needed to significantly improve the scope and level of multiliteracy support for Australian HDR students.
What happens when humans fall in love with robots? Exploring the impact of empathic AI
Linda Aulbach
As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to evolve, its impact on societal and economic structures becomes increasingly profound, reshaping established social norms and values. This is especially true for empathic AI, or affective computing, which models and evokes human emotions in human-robot interactions.
Getting through to your audience: helping NFPs increase dialogue with stakeholders
Vanessa Campbell
Community not-for-profit (NFP) organisations face considerable challenges when trying to reach those who need their information and services. In a social media environment that prioritises and boosts sponsored and ad-based content over organic content, NFPs are finding it hard to reach and be heard by their target audience.
Exploring the framing effects in mediated or translated news narratives
Christine Le
Explore the impact of (re)framing strategies used in global news transmission, with a special focus on the competing news narratives, news translation and the role of translators.
Emotional strategies in Nazi propaganda films
Stefani Deligiannis
This article aims to enrich our understanding of National Socialist (Nazi) propaganda by taking a history of the emotions approach to a case study of two iconic Nazi films: Triumph des Willens and Olympia.
Media monitor
The News Media Bargaining Code problem
The Albanese Government is grappling with an alternative funding model after the News Media Bargaining Code failed. Earlier in the year, Meta stepped away from its deals with Australian news publishers, and with Google taking a more targeted approach, questions remain about how Australia can sustainably fund major Australian news publishers.
Book reviews
Crossing the Line
Given the extensive media exposure of the sensational defamation suit brought by former Special Air Service (SAS) soldier Ben Roberts-Smith against journalists Chris Masters and Nick McKenzie, how much more could the 'inside story' reveal? Follow the well-publicised Brereton Inquiry's findings of a culture of violence in the Australian Defence Force's SAS that transgressed the rules of war.
The Men Who Killed the News
The inside story of how media moguls abused their power, manipulated the truth and distorted democracy. This is a book for our times, and for anyone who has wondered why public trust in journalism is at an all-time low. Highly respected editor and media proprietor Eric Beecher lays out how society got to this point. At its core, this book presents the most uncomfortable truth about journalism.
The Forever War: America's Unending Conflict With Itself
Watching the twists and turns of the unfolding 2024 US election from the relatively safe distance of Australia, politics nerds such as Nick Bryant could be forgiven for thinking it is increasingly like the sequel to a long-running Hollywood soap opera. Many Australians remain bemused as to how the former president has now been re-elected to the US’s highest office.
A Book of Waves
Gender waves. Media waves. Medical waves. Stefan Helmreich's A Book of Waves shatters the traditional mould of academic writing. It offers five powerful chapters, taking you on a ride through the anthropological and historical currents of wave science. Each chapter is punctuated by sets of three essays, mirroring the rhythm and anticipation of waves that surfers live for.